Archives for October 2008

We received our shipment of all available 2008 African coffees this morning (Monday) so we will hold a public cupping/tasting of these exquisite coffees on Tuesday, Oct 28th at 7 pm. I know this is late notice, but the coffees are just a couple of days off roast and ready to be tasted and enjoyed. Recently, in Fresh Cup Mag, Scott Merle, from Batdorf and Bronson, wrote a timely article about expanding our palates – read it here. Emily will lead us through the cupping and after, I will be brewing French Presses of all of these coffees for you to enjoy. Yep, it’s free and your palate will be expanded for sure!

On Tuesday, we closed Tazza D’Oro early for “staff training”. However, this training didn’t have anything to do with coffee or the espresso machine. Tuesday’s training was about appreciation, connection and what I call the “real” art of latte.

Back in September, during local food week, we hosted Nicholas Yon from Turner Dairy and one of our local dairy farmers, Mary Stoner. Mary and her husband Sam, own Stoner’s Dairy Farm in Latrobe. The Stoner Farm supplies exceptional milk to Turner Dairy – because of this quality and the local connection, we purchase all of our milk from Turner Dairy. Mary and I made arrangements for the baristas of Tazza D’Oro to visit the farm and have the chance to experience and see all the work that goes into getting milk from the farm to Turner Dairy and finally to Tazza D’Oro.

Our baristas had the chance to meet all the exceptionally well cared for cows, “hook them up” for milking, ask a bazillion questions and spend a few hours walking in the boots of our farmers. Mary and Sam also opened their home and hearts – they surprised P, EJ, Tone, Brady, Zach, Chase, Megan, Katie and Katie Face with a bon fire, the chance to roast hot dogs and eat lots of homemade pie.

I couldn’t be there for the farm visit, but as I write this post I am reminded about how lucky I am to be the owner of Tazza D’Oro. Our baristas rise to the occasion every time I put a challenge out there for them – they went to the farm, milked the cows, engaged with the farmers and came home with an awesome experience and appreciation. Mary and Sam, thank you so very much and we appreciate all your hard work and exceptional quality. The same goes for Turner Dairy and the Turner family.

BTW, our baristas had the chance to meet two new calves that happened to be born the same day as their visit. Whoa moment and hope we get to name one!

This is how we serve Mary, Sam and Turner’s incredible milk. Gee, I should have titled this blog post “Full Circle”!

A few weeks ago I got an email from Anthony, who lives in Illinois, saying he is coming to Pittsburgh for a conference and wants to visit Tazza D’Oro while he is here. Anthony found us on the internet through some research about coffee in Pittsburgh. We emailed back and forth and set a date for his visit. Anthony has a day job as a Professor of Philosophy at Southern Illinois University, and is a huge coffee aficionado and serious home barista.

On Saturday, Anthony found his way to Highland Park and Tazza D’Oro for a taste of some Pittsburgh brewed coffee and espresso. We decided to hold a coffee cupping for him and before I had a chance to set up the coffee, Braden had already pulled several espresso shots for Anthony to try.

So here is the small world story: I set up the coffees for our cupping – Ethiopia Harar, Guatamula Finca El Valle, Costa Rica La Minita and the great Panama Esmeralda. I was really excited for Anthony to cup the Esmeralda but when he saw the La Minita he said “that’s one of my favorites and I cupped that coffee with Oliver”. Oliver? Batdorf and Bronson in Olympia, Wa? Yep! As it turns out, Anthony is originally from Portland and has some family in Oly. He and his family spent some time in Oly and with Oliver at Batdorf talking and tasting coffees – small world and pretty damn awesome too!

After we cupped the coffees and made a French Press of the Panama Esmeralda, Braden gave Anthony a quick lesson on our La Marzocco espresso machine. I tasted a lot of good shots and witnessed some good looking steamed milk all from the “home barista”. The other piece of the small world story is that both Braden and Anthony happened to be wearing their Espresso Parts T-shirts. Espresso Parts is located in Olympia and it’s where we purchase a lot of our espresso gear and gadgets.

Our visit with Anthony was another incredible “coffee experience” day. Anthony, thank you for your visit and for giving us the opportunity to share our passion for coffee with you. Stay in touch and come back soon!

I could probably count on one hand the biggest influences in my life – 1979-1980 was one of those years. During my high school days, my family and the town I grew up in were passionately involved in the AFS organization. The AFS, American Field Service, was responsible for a student exchange program where U.S. high school students would live abroad for a year and foreign students would live in the U.S. for a year. During the summers, my family hosted students from Italy, Ecuador, Korea, and France. We had such an awesome experience, my parents thought it would be a good idea to host a student for a year. After a rigorous application and interview process and the passing of several months, we received a huge packet in the mail. The packet included a “we pass as a host family letter” and a bunch of info and a very small picture of a young teen from Germany who the AFS matched with our family – Thorsten Moritz. I don’t remember much about the packet except the picture, looking up in the encyclopedia (yea, no Internet, dudes) where the heck was the Black Forest in Germany. I can remember being so totally excited and my parents having serious discussions about taking care of a kid from another country – transitioning into a new culture and family, his safety, well-being, preparing German food, language – Thorsten knew some English we didn’t know any German – and providing him with a good experience, including travel. In August of 1979, our family traveled to Pittsburgh to pick up Thorsten. It was an amazing year and an amazing experience that I think influenced many parts of my life; including my vision for Tazza D’Oro.

Culturally, as teens, we were worlds apart but after many meaningful discussions I came to understand that Thorsten and I had more in common and we were very similar- family, peers, school, coming of age etc. Thorsten transitioned into our family and school. He became the star kicker of our high school team,the Jeannette Jayhawks – keep in mind this was a kid who never experienced American football or ever saw a football!

Over the last 28 years Thorsten and my family have kept in touch. The connection has been so great that when we get together, like we did this weekend, it seems just like “family”. Thorsten, his wife Ute and 2 children live in St Paul, Mn. where Thorsten is a professor at Bethal Seminary.

Thorsten, you have taught me that many of us have different perspectives, experiences and opinions but when we can connect on a deep, meaningful level we are not that different. It is with this perspective that I have built my vision for Tazza D’Oro. BTW kiddo, saying goodbye 28 years later hasn’t gotten any easier either!

I have been out of town the last few days. Depending on my destination, I usually have a list of my favorite coffee places or seek advice from other coffee enthusiasts about where to find exceptional coffee or espresso. I knew this time, from previous trips, that finding excellent coffee was not a possibility. I can’t drink the bad stuff and can’t go without coffee, so I always travel with my coffee paraphernalia – grinder, whole beans, brushes, scoop, bottled water and a French Press. I always manage to forget my toothbrush though – no kidding!

As it turned out this hotel was all about awesomely comfortable, luxurious rooms with no way to heat up water. Friday morning I headed out into the main area of the hotel looking for hot water. I find Leo, rad hotel attendant, he is feeling my lack of caffeine pain and is totally intrigued by my request for sufficiently hot water while walking around with a French Press of freshly ground Costa Rica La Minita. Leo takes me into a small utility room and there is was – a Bunn water tower with hot water (200F)! Leo watched every move and when the coffee was ready I shared my French Press with him.

Leo suddenly left the room and said “don’t leave I will be right back”. I ended up making about 5 or 6 French Presses that morning for the hotel staff and one of the owners. They thought it was the best cup of coffee they EVER tasted. Once again, coffee provided me with an awesome experience – sitting around the table with people from many parts of the world and country, tasting coffee and talking coffee and sharing small slices of life. I returned to the utility room the next morning to find my coffee stuff totally cleaned and ready to make more coffee. The manager of the hotel restaurant also provided me with an Italian ceramic cup to drink my coffee for the remainder of my stay! So, travel with your coffee stuff, have good coffee and cool experiences.